Rebel Blood TPB - Review

Issue: Rebel Blood TPB
Writer: Alex Link, Riley Rossmo
Artist: Riley Rossmo
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: September 2012
Pages: 128
Price: $14.99

"A virus has created a wilderness of blood-thirsty creatures standing between you and your family. You don't know if you can save them in time, or if you've even got the strength to try. But you're about to find out.  In a world of ravenous creatures it doesn't matter who you used to be. Today you're lunch."

Dying Breath: 5.0 out of 5
Nope, no way. There is absolutely no way I could have seen that coming, and that is why this book is getting a perfect score. Rebel Blood seemed to be heading down a nice little path of typical horror storytelling and then it took a right at the light. When this series was coming out as single issues I always found myself saying "I have to re-read the last issue to see how this plays into what is going on." So sure this was fun as a mini, but it is Killer as a collected. As usual I am going to do some gushing about Rossmo's GORE-Geous artwork. His characters designs are solid and consistent, his monsters/zombies are ahh-mazing, but there was something very special that made what he did in this book stand out. Riley was able to really capture cartoon-like animation on a comic book page a few times in this series. He did this by not breaking up panels with gutters, but instead continued visually telling the story in the same panel. He was able to instruct my eyes where to go next, without the typical comic breaks, and that is why this was so well done. The story I have already kind of touched on, but I want to come back to it. The idea really did seem to be straight forward, survive the zombie madness and everything will be okay. However throughout the book, there are these little sneak peaks into the main characters brain. As the story progresses you really begin to wonder about his sanity, and then BAM, in your face plot twist that makes this book a solid 5. I loved this book, there is no way around that. I think what Rossmo and Link were able to do here will be talked about for years to come. When the horror genre is filled with some typical zombie survival stories, which are great, it is always nice to see a team bring something new and fresh to the table. At $14.99 this book is a steal, so make sure to add it to your collection, you will be glad you did.

Artwork: 5.0 out of 5 • Story: 5.0 out of 5

If you would like to buy or know more about Rebel Blood you can find it at http://www.imagecomics.com